A note from Jo…

When we heard about Lock 29 (previously BHS) being launched in Banbury, as the national centre of food provenance in the UK – we were so excited to hear about this initiative and on our doorstep! We quickly found out more about it and learnt that a company called Happerley were leading the proposal.

Shortly after this Happerley contacted us at The Kitchen about launching their national launch tour – we were over the moon! It felt like years of caring so very much about the food and drink we serve came instantly to the fore. They loved our clear message about local food including growing some of the produce in our own gardens.

So Happerley’s objective ……

‘We are working on behalf of the whole UK food industry and all consumers to develop and implement a means to secure provenance honesty and transparency, and empower the consumer to know the journey of their food. This will create a level playing field for all food businesses to validate, protect and promote the provenance value of their food production.’

This was simply music to our ears – we have always exceptionally proud to serve the very best food and drink with a localness, wherever possible, without compromising on quality. At times we have found it difficult to communicate this message to our customers and if I am honest, a bit of complacency on our part expecting our clients at The Kitchen to understand the provenance of our food.

Then Happerley came along and solved all of our problems – we have now been audited and by using a QR code, our customers can find out exactly who supplies our food and drink and also can find out more about our core values. Interestingly, I filled in the final paperwork last night and animal welfare came up as one of the topics to detail our values. We find battery hens totally abhorrent and have always sourced free range eggs for as long as I can remember. Our meat is sourced via Aubrey Allen, who are fastidious in checking the animal husbandry on the farms who supply them. We have gone so far as to visit the farms that supply us. We really do care very much about this and now Happerley have given us the means to communicate this message.

Anthony and I have always been passionate about sourcing local food. In fact we actually met whilst I was working with Food from Britain (affiliated with the then Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Farming) promoting food and drink from the South East of England.

So as the final preparations are being made for the launch event tonight – working in partnership with our friends at the beautiful Primrose Hill Farm, we have known the owners as a local farming family for nearly 20 years, it really does feel that our whole purpose, love, care and ethos has finally come full circle.

I will certainly be celebrating with a Cotswold Gin and Tonic tonight (alongside others who care so passionately about food that we serve – including Adam Henson) with a total sense of accomplishment that our passion about sourcing the best ingredients available to serve in The Kitchen has finally been recognised and now celebrated.

So huge thanks to Happerley for giving us the means to at last spread this message! And of course to our friends at Primrose Hill Farm for hosting the event, whilst we would have loved to host it at The Kitchen, it became quickly clear that this was too big an event for our little restaurant!